Spring cushioning device and reinforcement for the borders thereof



March 8, 1955 Filed March 23, 1953 A. M. BANK SPRING CUSHIONING DEVICE AND REINFORCEMENT FOR THE BORDERS THEREOF 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. ALBERT M BANK A TTOPNEY SPRING ZUSHIONING DEVICE .AND REINFORCE- MENT FOR THE BORDERS THEREOF Albert M. Bank, Jersey City, N. J.

Application March23, 1953, Serial No. 344,179

7 Claims; (Cl; -253).

Thisinvention relates to spring cushioning devices and reinforcements. for the borders thereof.

ltis particularlydirected to inner cushioning spring unitsfor mattressesor bed. springs. or other spring assemblies,. and devices for reinforcing. the borders thereof. Heretofore reinforcements for spring cushioning units have been known, but these comprised individual springs placed at various pointslongitudinally of the border of the unit and. each separately attached to the unit.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a highly improved reinforcement for the border of the spring cushioning unit, such reinforcement comprising a continuous wire spring normally in compact unfiexed condition and which may be. pulled .or stretched'or opened up, out to any. desired length, and attached to the border of the unit. These reinforcingsprings may be attached either to selected. portions of the spring unit or. attached all around. They may be applied to spring units which have no border. wire or which have a border wire, and they may: be. attached: either by meansof clips or by. helical springs. known in. the trade-as pigtails.

It is a further object of the invention. to provide a highly improvedlborder reinforcement for an inner spring mattress unit which may bemade. as a continuous spring in theshapeof a: figure 8,? butwhich may be opened up to formalternately inclined wire portions connected by loops. The reinforcements may. comprise two such wires symmetrical with; respect to one another and alongside one another in parallel planes, with the loops attached either to the top: and. bottom convolutions of the coil springs. ofthe unit or to the. top and bottom border wires or'to. both. The loops may be aligned with the rows of coil springs. Wheretwo such-reinforcing springs are used, the top' loops of the. two reinforcing springs alternate and the bottomloops-of such reinforcingisprmgs also alternate. Either. one such reinforcing spring may be used or two. Where one. or. two-reinforcing springs are used, the top loops of eachmay'be aligned with every other row of coil springs andthe bottom loops of each maybe aligned with the intervening rows of coil springs. Furthermore, if desired, whena singlev reinforcing spring is used, each adjacent pair of top andbottom loops may be attached totop and bottom. convolutions of a row of coil-springs. Furthermore, if desired, eachloop of. the reinforcement spring may have an extra convolution.

Still another object of. this invention. is to provide a strong, rugged. and durable reinforcement spring for. a spring assembly unit or spring cushion which may be relatively inexpensive to manufacture, easy to apply, which may be compactly shipped, and which shall yet be practical and efficient to a high degree. in. use.

Other objects. ofthis, invention will in part be obvious and in part hereinafter pointed out.

The invention. accordingly consists in the features of construction, combinations of elements, and arrangement of parts, which. will. be exemplified in the construction hereinafter described, and of which the scope ofinvention will be. indicated in. the following. claims.

In. the drawings 1..

Fig. l is a top plan view of a spring cushioning unit provided with reinforcement means embodying the invention;

Fig. 2 is a side elevational view of the structure shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a cross sectional view taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2;

v United States. Patent 0 "ice Fig.- 4 is a view similar to Fig. 2 but showing. the reinforcement.springattached to the top and bottom convolutions of the, coil springsby helicalwires instead. of by clips. as in. Fig.v 2;.

Fig.5. is a cross, sectional'view taken'on the line 5-5 of Fig.4;

Fig. 6 is a view similar to Fig. 2 but illustrating a modified construction;

Fig. 7 is a. cross sectional view taken-on the line 7-'-7 ofFig. 6;

Fig. Sis a view similar to Fig.2 but. showing theuse of a single reinforcement spring, instead of two such sprlngs;

Fig. 9 is a cross sectional, view taken on the line 9-9- of Fig. 8;

Fig. 10 is a. View similar to- Fig. 8 but showingreinforcing, spring attached to coil, springs, by pigtails. instead of clips;

Fig. 11 is a cross sectional view. taken on line. 11--11 of Fig. 10;

Fig. l2'is an end view of oneof the reinforcing springs shownin Fig, 2 before it. is opened up;

Fig,v 13 is a top view of the spring shown inFig. 12-;

Fig. 14 is a top view of the reinforcement spring shown in Fig. 12but opened up;

Fig. 15. is a view similar to Fig. 12..but illustrating a reinforcement spring having. extra convolutionsfor each top, and bottom loop;

Fig, 16 is a topplan view of the structure shown in Fig. 15; and

Fig. 17 isa top plan view of'the spring shownin Fig. 15 but. opened .up.

Referring now in detail to thedrawing, 10 designates a spring cushioning unit, here shown for the purpose of illustration as part of a spring cushion unit for an inner springmattress. The same comprises a plurality of parallel-rows 11 of parallel coil foundation springs 12 all in the sameplane. The coil springs 12 in each row may be attached together by clips or pigtails or in any other suitable manner.. These springs may be'of hour-glass shape as shownor helical; Alsothe springs 12 of each row 11 may beattached to springs of the adjacent rows by clips or pigtails orzinany other suitable manner;

This spring unit is shown likewise for the purpose of illustration, as being provided with top and bottom border wires 14 which contact'thetop and bottom convolutions 12a of the outside coil springs 12. The border of the unitis reinforced by resilient reinforcing means 15 embodying the invention.

InFigs. 1, 2 and. 3 the reinforcing means comprises a pair of similar reinforcement springs 16 side by side in parallel planes. Each, spring 16 is normally in the unflexed condition shown in Figs. 12 and 13 before it is opened up and. attached to the unit 10. Each spring 16 is made from a single continuous piece of spring wire winding back and forth in a figure 8 with all the. 8 shaped wire portions. superposed.

Thus, the spring 16 comprises a bottom curved portion 17 from which extend upwardly crossing wire portions 18 and 19 connected, to top curved portions 20. All the curved portions .17 are superimposed, the straight wire portions were superimposed, the portions 18 are superimposed, andthe portions 20 are superimposed. The portions 18 and 19 cross each other atvsubstantially the mid,

point between the bottom curved portion and the top curved portions when the spring is unflexed.

It will now be understood that if the opposite ends of the spring 16' are pulled apart so that the spring falls.

in practically onev plane as shown in Fig. 14, the spring will look like, one of, thesprings shown in. Fig. 2. The bottom and. top. curved portions 17 and 20 become smaller. Each curved portion 17 becomes a smaller ordrawn loopfrom which extendsincli'ned portions 18' and IQvcrossing-each, other, as at 21, closer to the lower. end of the spring than to the top. Thetopcurvedportions 20 also become smaller loops and from each of them extends inclined portions 18 and 19 crossing each other, as at 22, closer to the top of the spring than to the bottom.

The top loops 20 of each spring 16 are aligned with alternate rows of coil springs 12 and may be attached to the top convolutions 12a and to the border wire 14 by clips 23. The bottom loops 17 are aligned with rows of springs 12 each alternating with the rows aligned with the loops 20, and these are attached to the bottom border wire and to the bottom convolutions by clips 24. Where tWo springs 16 are used, these springs lie in substantially parallel planes. The top loops 20 of one spring 16 alternate with the top loops 20 of the other spring 16. Likewise the bottom loops 17 of one spring 16 alternate with the bottom loops 17 of the other spring 16. With such construction each row of coil springs has aligned therewith a top loop 20 of one reinforcing spring 16 and a bottom loop 17 of the other reinforcing spring 16, thus providing for uniform pressure for each row of coil springs. In other words, one reinforcing spring 16 complements the other reinforcing spring.

Although the reinforcing springs are shown attached by means of clips 23 they may also be attached by means of usual helical wires known in the trade as pigtails. Furthermore, while a border Wire 14 is shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3, this border wire may be omitted. It will also be understood that instead of using two springs 16, only one such spring may be employed as shown in Figs. 10 and 11. These figures illustrate the binding helical wire or pigtail 30 for attaching the reinforcing springs to the top convolutions 12a of the coil springs, and these figures likewise illustrate a construction where the border wire is omitted.

In Figs. 4 and there is shown a construction similar to Figs. 1, 2 and 3 except that the border wire is omitted and the pigtail 30 is employed.

In Figs. 6 and 7 one reinforcing spring 16 is used, but ad acent top and bottom coils are aligned with one row of coil springs 12. With such construction one straight wire portion 18 has a similar incline extending merely from one side of the coil to the other, but the other straight wire portion 19 is inclined extending from one row of coil springs to the next.

In Figs. 8, 9, 15, 16 and 17 there is shown a reinforcing spring 35 of different type. This reinforcing spring 35 comprises a bottom curved portion 36 from one end of which extends upwardly an inclined straight portion 37. Extending from the complete convolutions 38 is a curved portion 39 from which extends downwardly a straight portion 40 crossing the portion 37. Extending from the portion 40 is a complete convolution 41 and extending from the complete convolution 41 is the next curved portion 36, and so on, these portions being continuously repeated. This spring 35 is likewise a continuous spring and is the same as spring 16 with the exception that at the top and bottom there is an extra convolution.

When the spring 35 is stretched out to be attached to the inner spring cushioning unit, the two units at the top 38, 39 become somewhat separated as shown in Fig. 8, and the same is true of the coils 41, 36 at the bottom.

The top coils 38, 39 may be attached to the top convolutions of the foundation springs by clips 43 and the bottom coils may be attached to the bottom convolutions by clips 44.

Although in Fig. 8 the inner spring unit 48 is shown as not being provided with a border wire and as being attached by clips, it will be understood that a border wire may be employed and pigtails may also be em ployed instead of the clips for attaching the spring 35 to the inner spring cushioning unit.

It will thus be seen that there is provided a device in which the several objects of this invention are achieved and which is well adapted to meet the conditions of practical use.

As possible embodiments might be made of the above invention, and as various changes might be made in the embodiment above set forth, it is to be understood that all matter herein set forth or shown in the accompanying drawings is to be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

Having thus described my invention in some detail, what I claim as new and desire to protect by Letters Patent of the United States, is:

1. In combination with a spring cushioning unit having a border and comprising a plurality of rows of coil compression foundation springs, means to reinforce the border of said unit comprising a spring made from a single piece of spring wire, and comprising top and bottom loops interconnected by crossing inclined wire portions, and means for attaching the top loops to the top of the unit and the bottom loops to the bottom of the unit.

2. The combination of claim 1, said attaching means comprising means to attach the top loops to the top convolutions of said foundation springs and the bottom loops to the bottom convolutions of said foundation springs.

3. The combination of claim 2, said top loops being aligned with every other row of foundation springs, and said bottom loops being aligned with the foundation springs between every other row.

4. In combination, an inner spring cushioning unit having a border and comprising parallel rows of coil compression foundation springs, means to reinforce the borders of said unit, comprising a pair of springs in substantially parallel planes side by side, each comprising top and bottom loops interconnected by crossing inclined portions, and means to attach the top loops of said reinforcing springs to the top convolutions of alternate foundation springs at the border of the unit, and means to attach the bottom loops to the bottom convolutions of alternate foundation springs at the border of the unit, a top loop of one reinforcing spring and a bottom loop of the other reinforcing spring being aligned with each row of foundation springs, and the inclined wire portions of one reinforcing spring crossing the inclined wire portion of the other reinforcing springs.

5. In combination with a spring cushioning unit having a border and comprising a plurality of rows of coil compression foundation springs, means to reinforce the border of said unit comprising a spring made from a single piece of spring wire, and comprising top and bottom loops interconnected by crossing inclined wire portions, and means for attaching the top loops to the top of the unit and the bottom loops to the bottom of the unit, said reinforcing spring being attached to the unit in tensioned condition and normally having all the top loops superimposed and the bottom loops superimposed, and the crossing portion superimposed to form a figure 8 when the reinforcing spring is detached from the unit and allowed to assume its retracted normal unflexed condition.

6. In combination with a spring cushioning unit having a border and comprising a plurality of rows of coil compression foundation springs, means to reinforce the border of said unit comprising a spring made from a single piece of spring Wire, and comprising top and bottom loops interconnected by crossing inclined wire portions, and means for attaching the top loops to the top of the unit and the bottom loops to the bottom of the unit, and a coil interposed in each of the top and bottom loops.

7. In combination with a spring cushioning unit having a border and comprising a plurality of rows of coil compression foundation springs, means to reinforce the border of said unit comprising a spring made from a single piece of spring wire, and comprising top and bottom loops interconnected by crossing inclined wire portions, and means for attaching the top loops to the top of the unit and the bottom loops to the bottom of the unit, each adjacent pair of loops being aligned with a single foundation spring.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 902,604 Radermacher Nov. 3, 1908 985,710 Smith Feb. 28, 1911 988,490 Nehr Apr. 4, 1911 1,055,662 Scheible Mar. 11, 1913 1,255,151 Franz Feb. 5, 1918 2,102,066 Gleason Dec. 14, 1937 

